It’s rarely visited and many people don’rt even know it exists.
It appears to have been set up for Ed Zotti’s book, whoever he is… But that book has only had 7 reviews since 2008. Seriously meh; pathetic on amazon… And the attached website or blog or whatever that Ed (whoever he or she is) has been abandoned and is no longer viable.
So - why the pointless and sadly embarrasingly-unpopulated forum? It seems that people who post there are either trying to drum up business for the ignored Zotti book, or are clueless. Well-meaning people post home repair questions to the main forums on a regular basis; mods never move them. The BH forum is pointless, really.
I don’t think Amazon reviews map to actual sales, but even if they do, it was obviously a “labor of love” project and not some huge commercial venture he was banking his future on.
OK, i probably should have googled first…Ed Zotti and Cecil are apparently connected, somehow.
But that still doesn’t answer my question - why does a separate forum exist, if it’s rarely visited, mostly ignored because most are unaware of it, and never visited by Ed Zotti himself? It siphons off the occasional question from the main forums and questions there get few views or answers.While home-maintenance-type questions are routinely asked, not moved and answered prolifically on the main forums? Just seems counterintuitive to the whole fighting ignorance thing.
And why no responses from TPTB?
My guess is that Ed Zotti published a book, it didn’t take off as expected but TPTB decided it was worthy of a separate forum, the forum really never took of either, but out of loyalty or nepotism or something the lonely little forum remains. Is that close?
Ed is Cecil. Why people like to be so secretive about it is anyone’s guess. I don’t read it, for the same reason I don’t read Straight Dope Chicago or Games.
Ed is the boss here, in case you didn’t know that.
Sometimes we try things, just to see what happens. The site has always been run this way, sometimes we’re making it up as we go along. Occasionally it works.
Aha! So this Ed person IS the boss here?
And hence the Barn House sub-forum.
Seems to me it would make better sense to push the forum and the book a bit harder, then, if the original purpose was to publicize his book.
The Barn House was published in Sept 2009. The forum was established then to help push the book, as well as to provide a discussion arena for those interested in home repair. Two years later, there’s not the same desire to push the book, but the forum, once in place, remains there.
chiroptera, you’ve been here for five years and didn’t know who Ed Zotti is? … I’m not just reticent (as per your wiki quote), I’m astound.
I disagree with your assessment.
While there are comparatively few replies to each thread, there is a fairly large number of dopers who have viewed each topic which would suggest that there is an interest in the forum and the information provided there.
I do however agree that the mods in other forums should be moving such threads to the Barn House.
I just realized that I don’t even see the Barn House forum anymore. I remember when it first started, and I remember what it is, but it’s not there anymore. Is it because I’m a “guest”? Straight dope Chicago is gone, too.
I don’t care much; I don’t live anywhere near Chicago, and I posted in Ed’s Barnhouse forum exactly once (something about about a DIY bamboo deck if I remember correctly), but I no longer see either forum. Are they members only?
Well that’s weird. I loaded the main page just now and SD Chicago popped up. I hit refresh, and they both popped up. I hit refresh again and Barn House is gone again. What the hell?
Ed has the worst marketing mind on the entire Internet. Think of what this site could have been. Think of the opportunities lost. Think of all the times Ed has said that the Dope required money, money that he could have raised just by marketing himself as Cecil. Or even marketing Cecil. Uncle John’s Bathroom Reader sells by the gazillions and there is no Uncle John.
The Chicago Reader must share in the blame, because it’s necessary to believe that something in their contract limits it, though from whose side is impossible to tell.
This is Ed’s playground. We’re all here by sufferance. He might close it down tomorrow. He might create five new forums. He might write a new book. He may run for Mayor and turn it into a campaign platform. Everything here is by his whim. Why people don’t remember that is baffling.
